When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin * Track #8 On Led Zeppelin IV
Download "When the Levee Breaks"
When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin
Release Date
Performed by
Led ZeppelinProduced by
Jimmy PageWrited by
Kansas Joe McCoy & John Paul Jones & Robert Plant & Jimmy Page & John Bonham & Memphis MinnieAbout
This track is a rework of the 1929 song “When the Levee Breaks,” a blues tune by the couple Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. It was written about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flooding in United States history.
The track was recorded in the Headley Grange, a ho...
When the Levee Breaks Lyrics
[Intro]
[Verse 1]
If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break
If it keeps on raining, the levee's going to break
[Chorus 1]
When the levee breaks, have no place to stay
[Verse 2]
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, oh
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
[Chorus 2]
It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
Oh well, oh well, oh well, ooh
[Bridge 1]
Oh, don't it make you feel bad
When you're trying to find your way home
You don't know which way to go
If you're going down south, they got no work to do
If you're going north to Chicago
Ah, ah, ah, hey
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good
No, crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good
[Chorus 3]
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move, ooh
[Verse 4]
All last night I sat on the levee and moaned
All last night, sat on the levee and moaned
Thinking about my baby and my happy home
Oh-ho
[Bridge 2]
Ah, ah, ah, ah-ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah-ah
Oh, oh
[Outro]
Going
I'm going to Chicago
Going to Chicago
Sorry, but I can't take you, ah
Going down, going down now
Going down, I'm going down now
Going down, going down
Going down, going down
Oh...
Going down, going down now
Going down, going down now
Going down, going down now
Going down, going, dow- dow- dow- dow- down, now
Ooh, ooh
When the Levee Breaks Q&A
Who wrote When the Levee Breaks's ?
When the Levee Breaks was written by Kansas Joe McCoy & John Paul Jones & Robert Plant & Jimmy Page & John Bonham & Memphis Minnie.
Who produced When the Levee Breaks's ?
When the Levee Breaks was produced by Jimmy Page.
When did Led Zeppelin release When the Levee Breaks?
Led Zeppelin released When the Levee Breaks on Mon Nov 08 1971.
What have the artists said about recording at Headley Grange?
As documented by a fan, guitarist Jimmy Page told Guitar World Magazine:
It was very Charles Dickens. Dank and spooky. The room I chose to live in was at the very top of the building, and the sheets were always sort of wet. Headley Grange freaked Robert and John Bonham out, but I liked it, actually...
What did Led Zeppelin say about "When the Levee Breaks"?
In a six-hour interview, guitarist Jimmy Page said:
‘When the Levee Breaks’ is probably the most subtle thing on [the album] as far as production goes, because each twelve bars has something new about it, though at first it might not be apparent. There’s a lot of different effects on there that, at...
What has the media said about the song?
Rolling Stone ranked it as Led Zeppelin’s #8 song, saying:
This is Zeppelin as bad-trip blues band, with lyrics cribbed from Memphis Minnie about an epic flood and freaky, drowned-world production by Page, using heavy echo, backward harmonica and slo-mo playback. Bonzo’s drums, recorded in a stairw...
Why do the drums sound so cool?
The unique drum sound — most noticeable in first few seconds before the rest of the instruments join in — has been the subject of much internet lore because of the echo and the fact that they were recorded in a stairwell.
Rick Beato got to the bottom of this and demonstrates that it was not all-nat...